


The Royal Family

by dystopiangirl13



Series: The Gumball-Abadeer Family [2]
Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Family, Future Fic, M/M, Protective Siblings, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-05 13:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5377595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dystopiangirl13/pseuds/dystopiangirl13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Royals of Ooo are not as perfect as the people of the candy kingdoms believe. Behind closed doors, away from prying eyes the family is just as dysfunctional as everyone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home at Last

It felt like forever since Leo had been home. His first year at college was going great, but he was glad that he had a month of break. He was happy to be going home and to get to see his boyfriend and his family. 

Peppermint maid came waddling out of the palace’s front entrance, “Oh, Prince Leo! Welcome child. I have to run out for a little while, but your fathers should be home soon. There will be a lovely dinner tonight, with your favorites.” The candy maid didn’t wait for Leo’s response, but kept running towards whatever errand she had to complete. 

Leo chuckled to himself. Peppermint maid was certainly more than just the family’s maid, she seemed on occasion to keep the palace running. 

Things hadn’t really changed much in the few months he had been gone, but Leo found himself finding little details about the palace that he appreciated. He was more than ready to sleep in his own bed and have his own room back for a little while. As he reached the third floor he heard loud music filling the hallway, originating from his sister’s room. 

Leo groaned internally; Belle only played music that loud if she was desperately trying to drown out the world and her problems with it. He dropped his bags off in his room and proceeded to walk towards the danger zone. He didn’t knock on the door, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear it anyway. “Belle!” he yelled. She was laying on her bed, staring at her celling and singing along. The song came to an end and the room was momentarily quiet. “Belle,” Leo said quieter this time, knowing the silence was fleeting. 

Anabelle gasped due to the startling realization of no longer being alone. She fumbled for the remote on her bedside table and turned the music down. Her face was streaked with tears and mascara. Leo’s heart broke a little as he looked at her. She was obviously broken up about something and he just hoped that he could fix it a little. He moved across the room and sat on her bed, his back against the headboard. Just like when Anabelle first came to live with them, she crawled into Leo’s lap, seeking comfort in his arms. Leo was technically younger than his sister, but her mental state was fragile when she was adopted and Leo filled the role of protective older brother well. Plus, there was the fact that Anabelle no longer aged; Leo looked older than her now and he was certainly taller and larger than Belle, who to him had always seemed fragile. He remembered when she first came home, how she would have nightmares almost every night; Leo spent many nights holding her in his arms, stroking her hair, calming her down, assuring her that she was safe. 

The siblings sat in silence for a few minutes. Leo let her calm down some as he waited for her to explain what was going on.


	2. He's Home at Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anabelle's Dark Side

The music was blasting in Belle’s room, but she didn’t hear the words. She needed the noise though, silence seemed deafening. She knew she was having a panic attack, but there was no one home to help her. Leo helped her get through them most of the time, but her fathers knew their way around a panic attack too. She was alone. Alone in her room. Alone in the palace. Alone in her head, allowing the demons that resided there to torture her.

Her breath came in shallow gasps as she sat on her bathroom floor. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. She wanted to pull herself so close that she would just disappear into existence. Poof! She would just cease to be. 

She crawled along the tiled bathroom floor and opened the cabinet door. On the bottom shelf, in the very back was a small box. She pulled the lid of the box and removed the razor blade. She had been doing it since the panic attacks started, which was when her first life ended. She loved being a vampire and living with her new family, but the pieces of memories of her past life still haunted her. 

For five years, the only way she could stop the panic attacks on her own was to inflict pain. The sting of the cuts in her hip brought her back to reality, brought her back in control. No one knew, not even her brother. She knew how much it would hurt her family to know. It hurt her more than physically, but when she was alone it kept her in control of her emotions. Her panic attacks were a constant in her life, but until Leo had left for college she had someone to work though them with. But Leo had been gone for months and she needed to be in control. She used the razor more often now and the scars left on her hips were constant reminders of how much she hated what she did to pull herself back to reality. She hated that dark side of her life. 

When the new cuts stopped bleeding and her breathing had returned to normal, Belle walked back into her room. She turned the music up louder, flopped onto her bed, and began to cry, hating herself for what she did on a regular basis.

She had no idea she had been lying on her bed when Leo suddenly grabbed her attention. She wanted to throw herself in her brother’s arms; her protector was home at last.


	3. Her Protector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo knows how to deal with her panic attacks, but can he handle everything else she is going through

Anabelle felt truly calm in her brother’s arms. She hadn’t felt like this since he left; since then she was always on edge, waiting for her world to come crashing down around her. She left out a deep breath and looked up at Leo. He was smiling at her, in the way he always did after one of her panic attacks. 

“Do you need a glass of water?” he asked her. She nodded at him and moved to allow him to scramble off the bed. She claimed the space that Leo had occupied, leaning against the pillows. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to smile. Leo is home, at least for a little while. 

Leo walked into his sister’s bathroom, which he always thought was huge. Her room was once the guest suite and it had one of the nicest bathrooms in the entire palace. He filled up a cup with cold water and began to walk back to his sister. When he turned away from the sink he stepped on something that was cold and wet. He twisted to set the cup back on the sink and then moved to inspect his foot.

A metal razor blade was situated in the middle of the ball of his foot. “Shit. I’m bleeding,” he muttered to himself. He put the razor on the counter and wiped the blood off of his foot. When his foot was clean, Leo realized that there wasn’t a cut. “But there was blood,” his eyebrows knitted together forming a thin line. When he put together where the blood came from he was filled with anger, but there was also a knot in his chest. He picked up the blade in-between his thumb and pointer finger and broke it in half.

Seeing Belle laying peacefully almost made him forget the anger he was feeling. Almost. He was at her bedside in an instant. He grabbed her hands and flipped them palm side up. He felt so incredibly stupid for never noticing scars on her wrists. 

“What the hell are you doing!” both brother and sister yelled at the same time.

“You’re cutting off the circulation in my hands,” she whined and tried to pull away from her brother. What the hell was he thinking! 

Leo stared intently at Anabelle’s wrists but found no scars or recent cuts, “I found a fucking razor blade covered in blood in your bathroom. Do you want to explain to me what that is all about?” his voice was stern and he had never spoken like this to Belle before. 

Belle was quick to think of a lie, not wanting Leo to see her dark side, “I cut myself shaving, idiot. You think that I actually cut my wrists?” She hoped that he couldn’t see right through her. 

Leo’s grip loosened on her wrists and he dropped to the bed, sitting in front of her. He hung his head a little and took a shaky breath before looking at her again. 

His face looked broken and his voice came out quietly, pleading, “Pease don’t lie to me. We don’t lie to each other. It may not be your wrists, but I know you are doing it. I always feared that you might. Just please tell me, Belle. I don’t think I can handle you lying to me.” 

Anabelle sat in silence, the tears once again streaming down her cheeks. She nodded, not able to look him in the eyes. She thought he was going to be furious and storm out, but she found herself enveloped in his arms. He pulled her into his embrace, his own tears dripping into her soft blonde hair. 

“Please don’t say anything to the dads at dinner. I’m not ready for them to know,” her voice was muffled in his chest.

Leo let out a sigh, he wasn’t sure he could keep this a secret. Or if he even wanted to.


	4. A Family of Strangers

“So how are your classes,” Gumball addressed his son as the family sat at dinner.

“I don’t think I’m gong back after Christmas,” Leo was staring into his plate as he uttered the words. He could hear Gumball’s fork clatter against the table where it had fallen. Gumball was suddenly on his feet, his palms pressed flat against the table. He was about to lecture Leo, but his husband stepped in.

“Leo, I think we need to talk about this,” Marshall was calm and he placed his hand over his husband’s in an attempt to pass some to Gumball, “Why don’t you want to go back to school?”

Leo looked at his sister, who had been silent throughout dinner, “I just think that I can be more useful here. I am the next heir to the throne and I can get privet tutors to still continue my education. I think you…” his words trailed off for a second, “I need to be here.” His words were meant for his sister and he tried as best as he could to keep from tipping his dads off to the fact that this was about her. 

Anabelle dropped her head. She felt selfish for wanting Leo back home, but some part of her really wanted him to never leave her again. 

“Leo what is all this about? You love school! You have dreamed about going to college since you were little.” Gumball sounded exasperated, but he was in his seat once more, still desperately confused.

Anabelle felt another panic attack coming on and she wanted more than anything to be up in her room with the music blaring to drown out this conversation that simultaneously was and wasn’t about her. “May I be excused? You three could really use some time to talk,” she looked at her father.

Leo panicked, “NO! You do not get to be alone right now!” His heart was beating fiercely in his chest. Anabelle made a move to leave, but Leo shot out of his seat and snatched her hand. 

Her breathing became shallow. The look of desperation on her face mimicked the tone in her voice, “Leo, please. Just let me go, please.”

By this point both Marshall and Gumball were beyond frustrated by the scene playing out in front of them. “Anabelle. Leo. Sit down. Now,” Marshall’s tone was calm, but there was a stern undertone that the siblings had learned to respect. 

Leo released his sister and made his way back to his seat, the entire time watching as she did the same. Marshall stood from his spot, “Leo, what in glob’s name is going on?”

“I…” he looked at Belle, “I’m sorry.”

“Leo, please”

Leo forced himself to look only at his father, who was standing directly in front of him, “Belle’s not well. She’s been having panic attacks more frequently and since I’ve been gone she started…” his voice caught in his throat. He had balled his hands into fists and his fingers were starting to turn white from how hard he was squeezing them. “Belle, she’s been cutting.”

Belle’s eyes were concentrated on her hands in her lap. She could feel the hot tears running down her face and the now silence in the room made her want to scream. 

Marshall’s chair screeched as it was pushed away from the table. He felt like his heart was about to burst, but he tried to walk as calmly as he could to where his daughter was seated. He crouched next to her chair and gently lifted her chin, her eyes forced to meet his own. 

He didn’t have to ask to know it was true. The look in her eyes broke his heart, “Sweetheart, why don’t you come with me to see Doctor Prince?” He figured since Leo seemed so distraught, Belle must have cut recently. Marshall knew the wounds needed to be looked at, but he wasn’t sure if Belle would let he or Gumball take care of them. She nodded a little and moved her chair away from the table. Marshall felt the overwhelming need to hold his baby girl close to his chest and he picked her up. She rested her head in the crook of his neck, her tears continuing to fall steadily. She felt too exhausted to be properly upset at Leo or her fathers. Her game was up and now it was time for her to let go, let them take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anabelle is an original character of my own. You can find out more about her in my fic "Our Belle".
> 
> Blake and Leo are the brainchild of sounf and ninjagare on deviant art. I love the art of them and if you want to see how I picture them in my head then head over to deviant art and check out sounf's and ninjagare's works!!
> 
> http://sounf.deviantart.com
> 
> http://ninjagare.deviantart.com


	5. Everything Changes

The early morning hours seemed to be when Marshall could think best. He and Gumball were laying in their bed together. The events that had transpired earlier that evening were weighing on his mind. He knew that their life wasn’t perfect, not even close, but he never imagined that one of his children…

“Marshall,” Gumball was awake too and had been lost in his own thoughts, “I’m going to go to the lab and work for a while. I can’t sleep and thinking about Belle is driving me insane.” He got out of the bed and dressed in his pj’s. Leaning across the bed he kissed his husband and left the room. 

The room was empty and silent now, Marshall hated not having Gumball next to him, their bed felt too big. He swung his legs over the side and sat there for a moment before transforming into his small bat form. 

He liked flying close to the ceilings as he maneuvered down the long corridors and hallways. Belle was back in her bedroom, even though Marshall had thought she should have stayed in the infirmary overnight. Her door was ajar and Marshall easily entered her room. She was fast asleep and he knew that his presence wouldn’t wake her; she had always been a heavy sleeper, Gumball used to joke that the caste coming down around her wouldn’t even wake the poor girl. 

Marshall perched on the headboard of her bed and watched his baby girl sleep peacefully. A feeling of dread washed over him and he felt the need to be close to his daughter. He moved from his perch and hovered over her. One of her arms was laid across her stomach and Marshall gently nuzzled himself underneath. She stirred a little, not waking, but Marshall begun to sing a lullaby to calm her once more. 

“Let’s go in the garden   
You’ll find something waiting   
Right there where you left it  
Lying upside down  
When you finally find it  
You’ll see how it’s faded  
The underside is lighter  
When you turn it around  
Everything stays  
Right where you left it  
Everything stays  
But it still changes  
Ever so slightly  
Daily and nightly  
In little ways  
When everything stays”

A few tears ran into Marshall’s fur as he sang; it had been a long time since he had sung that lullaby, Leo had been a toddler. When the song was over he took a few breaths to steady himself. He fell asleep thinking of his parents singing the song him when he was young. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Frustrated, Gumball threw his notebook across the lab; it hit the wall and fell with a dissatisfying thud. The numbers weren’t making any sense and Gumball couldn’t get the equation quite right. He wanted to break something, throw flasks and watch them as they shattered against the wall. His notebook had been in his hands at the time this urge took hold of him and so he had thrown that instead. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy the feeling of rage that was deep seated in the candy king at the moment. 

Gumball liked being in control. He liked being in control of his kingdom, of his royal events, and in his life. Lately it seemed like everything that happened was out of his control. He couldn’t fix things like he needed to be able to and even things in his lab wouldn’t cooperate. 

So he sat back on his lab stool, his head in his hands, defeat and rage coursing through him like a poison. He didn’t notice Leo come into the lab and was a bit startled by a hand resting on his shoulder. 

“Hey, Papa,”

Gumball pulled up a stool next to his own and gestured for the boy to sit. “Can’t sleep either?” Leo shook his head ‘no’, “There seems to be a lot of that going around tonight,” Gumball sighed.

“What are we going to do, Papa?”

Gumball closed his eyes while he thought of something to say that didn’t sound impossible. He had tried thinking about solutions all night, but nothing really seemed useful. In truth he had no idea what to do, which made the situation seem even more unsolvable. He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Honestly, Leo, I don’t have a clue what to do. Your father and I are at a loss. I think for right now we are just going to have to take things day by day. Get a feel for how Belle is going to react and take things from there.” It sounded reasonable once he had said it, “I think the most important thing is that when we talk to her, we all have to listen and remember not to invalidate her feelings. Even though we don’t agree with what’s she’s doing, we can’t tell her that her feelings are wrong. The more we tell her what to do, the more she’ll pull away.” 

Leo nodded. At least there was a place to start and them working through things as a family would be a thousand times better than if he had tried to fix things alone while keeping Belle’s secret. “I want to stay here until things are better.”

“Right now why don’t we see how things go until your break is over. When we get to the end of your school break we can talk again about you going back to school.” 

“Okay.” Leo got up and hugged his father, “Wanna grab a glass of chocolate milk with me?”

Gumball smiled, “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is from the Adventure Time "Stakes" episodes


	6. An Explanation that Could Be Too Much

Belle woke the next morning and noticed that she was alone in her room, though she doubted she would be left like that for very long. As if on cue, there is a knock on her door, but whoever it is on the other side doesn’t wait for a response. Leo popped his head in and saw that she was awake.

“Hey, Belle. I brought breakfast,” he seemed at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure if she was going to be mad at him for what happened at dinner, but he had also told himself a thousand times that it was the right decision. 

Belle looked at him blankly, not really wanting to talk, to him or anyone else. She wanted him to leave and after a few minutes of silence he did. 

It broke his heart that she wasn’t talking to him. They had never been like this before; neither could stand going a more than a week without talking to each other and even then that was usually only when they were apart. When they were together, they talked almost nonstop. They never ran out of things to talk about and Leo knew that her silence was a way of punishing him. 

He only made it to the top of the stairs before he had to sit down. His vision was blurry and his breath was coming out ragged. It was a good thing that his father was only a few steps away. Marshall pulled his son into his chest and began carding his fingers through his hair, like he did when Leo was younger. 

“Hey, hey, Leo. Leo, it’s going to be okay. Just tell me what happened.” Marshall waited patiently for Leo to calm down. As he waited he noticed his husband walk past them and into their daughter’s room. He himself had been on his way there when he found Leo on the stairs. 

It took a few minutes but Leo pulled himself together, “She won’t talk to me.” That’s all Leo said, but it was enough for his father to interpret the meaning behind the waterworks. 

Marshall put his hand on Leo’s chin and gently lifted it to where Leo was looking at him, “Your Papa’s already in Belle’s room. Why don’t we go join him and have a little family meeting?” He knew that Leo was grown, but sometimes he couldn’t resist taking care of his little boy. 

The two stood and walked the short distance to Belle’s room. Gumball was sitting at the foot of her bed and didn’t notice the two walk in. 

“Sweetheart, please. We’re only trying to help. Please, Baby, you’re breaking my heart. Please talk to me.” Gumball’s voice sounded like it was about to break, but Belle stared straight through him, as if he wasn’t there. 

“So” Marshall thought, “she isn’t talking to anyone.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Marshall gently shook his husband’s shoulder; Gummy had fallen asleep in the chair at his desk. “Honey, you’re going to hurt yourself if you keep sleeping in that chair,” Marsh said when his husband woke. “Come downstairs for a little while. I made hot chocolate.” 

Gumball was too tired to talk or even argue with his husband and instead followed silently. His muscles screamed out their displeasure with his decision to fall asleep in a chair. He hadn’t done that since he was in college, trying to stay up all night to write a paper due the next day. 

The kitchen always seemed eerily quiet in the wee hours of the morning, but it was also the time Marshall like it best. He and Gummy sat at the counter island and sipped on their coco. The last week or so had been tough on both of them; neither really knew what to say or do about the situation, so they mostly avoided talking directly about it, though it was getting more difficult to avoid. 

“I love you, Marshall,” Gumball held his hand in his own, needing to be close to his husband. 

“I love you too, Gummy,” Marshall moved to stand behind his pink king. He pulled Gumball’s back against his chest, weaved his arms through Gumball’s own, and clasped their hands together. 

It was then that they heard a thud in the hall and the faint whisper of a curse word. Still holding Marshall’s hand, Gumball moved toward the direction of the noise. 

Belle was standing at the end of the hallway, with the door partially open. She froze when she saw her fathers, trying to decide whether to flee or face them. 

“Where do you think you are going?” Marshall asked as he stepped towards her.

“I need time to think. Time to be alone and figure everything out, my life and what the hell I want.”

“Well I think you’ve had plenty of time to think in the past week and it’s well past time that you explained yourself to your family,” It was then that Marshall turned toward the staircase and yelled, “Leo! Come down here! We are going to have a family meeting.”

Belle still stood at the open door; she momentarily looked out before closing it and following her fathers into the living room. She settled into her favorite armchair and watched as the rest of her family took their usual spots: her fathers on the loveseat and Leo sitting on the floor at the base of her own chair. He turned just enough that he could easily look at her without having to stain his neck. 

Belle’s heart began to pound faster and faster in her chest. She wasn’t ready to talk to them about what a broken mess she was. She wasn’t ready to admit to anyone, let alone herself, how dark a place her own mind was. 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Marshall asks. Starting straight away with the million-dollar question. Great. 

She scoffed, as if the answer was really that easy. But then an anger rose in her; she was seething and she hated them all in that moment. She hated them for being so naïve, for being so god damn stupid, for not seeing what was right in front of them, for not understanding. So she began to explain, everything coming out of her all at once, “Because I couldn’t. How do I explain how utterly and completely broken beyond repair I feel? How do I say I’ve given up on me? I felt lost, shattered, and alone. And I let myself believe that I was. I listened to the lies. The lies that seemed easier, easier than fixing myself. Because fixing myself meant facing everything, standing up, walking back through everything I want to forget, everything that devours me, everything that makes me doubt myself. How do I tell someone I love, that I am a threat? A threat to their image of me, to the mask I’ve created for others to see. A threat to myself.” She was shaking now, the tears weren’t stopping, but she continued, angry that they didn’t understand, “How do I bare my soul to someone who could reject it? I can never take it back. You know. Forever and always. So I didn’t tell anyone. I kept it all. Bottled it up inside. Its my burden to bear. They are my demons to fight, to lose to, to keep tucked away. Neatly. Where they can wage a war that only I know about.” She was done talking. Her eyes were closed and she pulled as tight to herself as she could get. She wanted to get away from them, needing to be alone, but she couldn’t move. So instead she sat, pulled into a ball of herself, wanting them to go away and fix things the only way she knew how. She wanted her blaring music and her shiny blade.

**Author's Note:**

> Anabelle is an original character of my own. You can find out more about her in my fic "Our Belle".
> 
> Blake and Leo are the brainchild of sounf and ninjagare on deviant art. I love the art of them and if you want to see how I picture them in my head then head over to deviant art and check out sounf's and ninjagare's works!! 
> 
> http://sounf.deviantart.com
> 
> http://ninjagare.deviantart.com


End file.
